Sunday, December 18, 2011

Becky's Homestead: Sheet Mulching

 Layers of cardboard + compost + wood chips = Better soil

In this episode of Becky's Homestead, she uses the permaculture method of building her garden soil called sheet mulching. It looks strange when you begin to watch it, but it is a legitimate method of gardening. If the garden site suffers from soil compaction, loss of vegetation, erosion and overall degradation, this method has been proven to help.

This no-till method builds soil by layering compost, cardboard and wood chips to prepare for planting. The contents used can be flexible, since you can also use a thick blanket wood chips, plus leaf litter or other plant material layered over cardboard or newspaper. The cardboard smothers the weeds and serves as a weed barrier, while the mulch covers the cardboard, and both decompose into a rich, loamy wonderment. In addition, the fungi that break the cardboard and newspaper down produce a sugar that attracts earthworms, one of the finest contributors to healthy soil. See what you think.


(YouTube link)

Another video on sheet mulching.

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